


A Measure of Time

by crypt_mirror



Category: Dominion (TV)
Genre: Family Drama, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Some sex not very explicit, Wings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-23
Updated: 2015-11-23
Packaged: 2018-05-02 23:44:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5268371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crypt_mirror/pseuds/crypt_mirror
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the beginning there were five Archangels....</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Measure of Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [drinkbloodlikewine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/drinkbloodlikewine/gifts), [whiskeyandspite](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiskeyandspite/gifts).



> For drinkbloodlikewine and whiskeyandspite. Amazing, prolific, brilliant writers. You guys have given this fandom the most incredible fics. So from your request, I have this little gift. Hope you enjoy it. 
> 
> So unfortunately, one does not just add water and BINGO! have a Michael/ Lucifer fic ;-) fortunately I had the help of pushthequorumbutton ( QKat) -- Thank you so much being a skillful and patient beta, and yes all the quirkiness and mistakes are mine.
> 
> My take on the Archangels' story -- Dominion style; added some canon and bits from Dominion SyFy Revelations and a dash of a creation story or two.

A MEASURE OF TIME 

 

_And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day._

 

On the dawn of the first day, God created Lucifer. He created him from his own image and blessed him with the power of creation. Lucifer. The Star of the Morning. The first to call him Father. Time came when Father created siblings for him. Two sets of Archangels twins, fully formed and wise, each with their own gifts. Michael the Sword; his twin Gabriel, the heart. Uriel the Artist and Raphael the Sage. They all bore witness to the birth of this world.

Ages passed and the the shifting landmasses of the Earth settled. Vegetation flourished along with other living creatures that filled the sea, the land and the air. Father willed Man into existence. For the Archangels, Man became the most favored of all of their Father’s creation, for they too were created in Father’s image. But unlike them they were fragile -- mortal.

Father’s new creations basked in the warmth of the sun during the day, and were nourished by the fertile land. But at night they huddled together in the dark and cold. 

Lucifer saw they were driven primarily by the instinct to survive, but he also saw great potential in them. They needed an impetus for progress so Lucifer asked his Father if he could give them fire. Father saw that the heart of his Firstborn was true, and Father agreed: “only fire,” he said, “and that is all.” From his Father’s decree Lucifer gave fire to man.

An age passed before he visited Earth again, and again he felt that humanity could use a gift. And so he gave them the knowledge of how to forge metal. The Star of the Morning taught men how to shape tools and weapons. What Lucifer did angered Father greatly, for Lucifer had directly disobeyed his command. Father wanted to punish Lucifer. But Gabriel whose love for humanity was as great as Lucifer’s pleaded with him. Father forgave his Firstborn but exacted a vow not to interfere with the fate of humanity again. Lucifer reluctantly agreed. 

 

Humanity grew in number. Civilization advanced because of Lucifer’s gifts. The story of a being from Heaven who aided humans was passed through the generations. The worship of angels grew. Father grew displeased and his judgment was absolute. He ordered Michael, his most loyal and faithful son, the fiercest of all the Archangels, to slaughter and to scorch the Earth. Michael’s faith in his Father was steadfast. He believed that his Father's most beloved creation had trampled on his love. He slew in obedience to Father: an unstoppable force, his violence extreme as he found joy in his carrying out this brutality.

Gabriel begged his Father to put an end to the slaughter. Their Father’s heart was as great as it was also unfathomable. Decades passed, another edict was issued. It broke Gabriel's heart that he along with Uriel were ordered to stop Michael at whatever the cost. Not only was the human race almost completely obliterated but it had also become a test for Father’s most loyal son.

Lucifer could only watch in silence and frustration, bound by the covenant in exchange for his Father’s forgiveness. He could not interfere with his judgment.

 

I.

 

The Archangel Michael lay on the blistering middle eastern sand. Awareness would flow in ripples and waves, and with awareness came pain. He would grit his teeth against it in silent suffering until lucidity left him again. Gabriel and Uriel had come close to killing him, but it would take greater effort for them to succeed. They were relentless as he was was determined not to be subdued.

Though not human he was still flesh and blood. An empyrean sword true and deadly had ripped into his torso along with the several other wounds. The beating left him with broken bones and the muscles of his wings stunned. They could have killed him then, but instead they left him a broken and bloody mess in this desert.

He laid there on the sand, his concept of time muddled by his shifting consciousness. Fresh blood that oozed from his wounds mixed with the dried up crimson that had colored the sand beneath him. At this point he did not care.

Michael grunted; he knew Gabriel was once again nearby. He curled painfully onto his side, “Go away,“ he muttered under his breath. 

“Michael, please. There is no need for this. Come home with me.” Gabriel kneeled next to him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. 

He was met with silence save for the sound of insects scrabbling within the bloated corpses around him. The wretched heat and the smell of death assailed Gabriel's sensitive senses, yet his brother lay perfectly still on his side -- seemingly oblivious to all. But through their bond, he knew Michael’s spirit was in turmoil as it never was before. He tried to reach him but it had become dark and impenetrable as the tar pit of Is. Despite his brother’s warning, Gabriel gripped Michael’s shoulders with both hands as he attempted to sit him up. In a blink Gabriel suddenly felt the earth slip beneath him, his back hitting the ground hard even as he jerked up to find a sword held against his neck by his supposedly half dead brother.

"I said, let me be," His words as strong and cold as the steel of his blade as he stood there, green eyes glaring.

Gabriel remained still, concern in his eyes. He saw his brother sway ever so slightly, with bruises on his face, the dried blood on his split lip. He could see rivulets of blood, steady streams along Michael’s pale thighs. No doubt he had torn something when he moved. The thought of his Archangel twin wounded, bleeding because of him sickened Gabriel. Guilt flared deep in his chest.

"Brother..." Gabriel placated.

Michael could hear Gabriel’s voice in his head, pleading. _Yet they had come to punish me. I only did what Father asked._ In a vertiginous moment he became more aware of how flat and hot everything was around him: the sky above pressing down on him, burning him, accusing him. This was torment. He needed to be up there. If he must suffer it would not be on this arid dirt, far from the sky.

_Michael…please._

_No!_

He pushed himself up in a burst of strength and soared to the heavens. The pain was unbearable, his body burned. But he possessed the stubbornness and ferocity borne of being his Father’s Warrior. 

Gabriel watched in despair as his brother shot into the sky. The Archangel started after his twin, but was held down by a firm hand on his shoulder. 

“Let him be.”

“He will resist all help but I have to try!" Gabriel cried. But the hand that held him was as firm as their Father’s will.

“Trust me, Gabriel.”

And so Gabriel trusted.

II.

 

Michael sighted the tall inhospitable dark jagged sea cliffs of the North. His already damaged wings could not hold him up anymore. They spasmed severely refusing to obey his will, and he plummeted fast into one of cliffs. Resigned, he closed his eyes and gave himself to the fall. 

Several hundred feet below jagged rocks jutted out of the black stormy sea. Whatever hurt these would bring to his body would be nothing compared to the anger, pain and bewilderment that had taken root and festered dark and deep in his very soul. Somehow in the eyes of his Father he had done wrong. Somehow he was not worthy.

He crashed into the unforgiving, ancient crag. The solid stone broke against his immortal body, large pieces falling on him as he fell onto the edge of the cliff, almost to the black jagged boulders below. Consciousness left him.

Thunder cracked the sky. Diluvial rains fell as if the heavens wanted to empty out some sort of burden. Michael lay face down immersed in the sodden, gravelly soil, his wings out as they hung limp behind him. _As if I needed more reminders of my sorry state. Father's greatest Warrior drowned in the rain._ He lifted his head wearily. He grunted and pushed himself up. Still weak, his body protested: his shoulders gave way as they struggled to take the weight of his soaked and injured wings. He fell face down again on the wet earth and sighed, lying still for a while as he gasped at each new sensation of hurt. 

As an Archangel he was unaccustomed to pain, for he had more experience inflicting it on others. Michael knew that he had broken his collarbone, shattered the bones on his back. Each movement dug daggers of pain into his muscles. The wounds from the empyrean swords still exacted a toll on his body. He closed his eyes as he let the rain wash over him.

He laid there soaked for a time, his head on his arm. Through their bond he felt Gabriel seeking him, and willed him away, blocking him from perceiving him. Michael curled his hand into a fist and slammed it on the earth next to him. He took a deep shuddering breath and braced himself for another onslaught of pain. Using more of his powerful legs this time he was able to sit himself up and lean against a boulder.

Time passed that he did not care to measure. Day begat night and night begat day. The rains suddenly stopped. “They sent you.” he growled at the presence nearby.

"Now, this is definitely better place to brood," The presence gave a deep chuckle. The voice was smooth, and rich and dark. A voice that could summon Creation, or undo it. Michael opened his eyes, a mass of mist and vapor gathered into form before him. Long, black, silky hair flew around a sharp visaged face of high cheekbones and square jaw over golden bronze skin. Michael found himself glaring at hazel eyes with flecks of green that gleamed with amusement. 

Michael sighed deeply, then closed his eyes again. "Do you even use your wings?"

"Sometimes, if it suits me." He paused as he regarded his brother. "I might be the most like him in gifts. But you, dear one, you are the most like him in temperament." 

Michael barked a harsh laugh, then winced as another wave of pain coursed through him. His breaths came in rasps as he waited for the pain to subside. He decided to fix his eyes on a group of black winged seabirds diving for fish. A part of him idly wondered what the humans would name them.

Lucifer settled his tall, lithe frame next to him. He knew Michael’s wounds would heal in time as he gained strength and will. Lucifer also knew Michael had little of both right now but it was more than just his physical wounds. If it was possible he would rather die than seek help. This was Michael seeking some sort of refuge, far away from the site of his punishment.

"You are still here,” the younger grumbled, after a while. "And why am I sitting on grass now?"

The first born cocked his head haughtily, in a way only Lucifer could. His long black hair rippled with each move. 

"Very astute of you, brother. You see unlike you I do not enjoy the feel of hard, cold earth beneath my arse."

"Grass does not grow in these cliffs, it is unnatural," Michael said in reproach.

"A time will come when grass will. Minute pieces of earth and seed carried by the winds have already made their home here. I merely coaxed them into existence." His voice remained low and soothing while his long fingers gently played with the lush green blades. 

Michael watched him, drawn by Lucifer's words, then shook his head impatiently, "Don't you have to go and mind your humans? After all I did just destroy most of them."

Lucifer tsked softly. "Is it not something?" He rested a hand somewhat absently on his brother's head and started to pick out the small pieces of gravel stuck in the dark locks. "For more than a millennia we have lived in harmony with each other on this Earth. Then Father creates them from his image, yet they are so flawed. Their lives could end tomorrow but it does not stop them. They push and drive themselves. They angered Father. He loves them most yet he wants them destroyed. It is their world now Michael. Father and theirs." He ran his fingers down Michael's hair gently stroking out the bits of stone. 

" And what of us." It was not a question but a bitter statement. He turned his head away as if barely tolerating his brother’s attention.

"We are Father's children. His Archangels, the best of our kind. Free will is ours, same as theirs. But though we can certainly choose, the question is are we truly free to act on our choice?” 

Michael gave him another look. Another exasperated sigh.

"Do not look at me like that. I have long given up understanding Father's logic." 

"You are the oldest." 

"True enough, but that does not make me any wiser to the workings of the mind of a deity that is as old as time." 

Michael continued to stare ahead, his prism green eyes catching the shafts of light that escaped through the clouds. Lucifer knew why Michael came here. The wild craggy cliffs were among the highest on land, and they forever faced a stormy sea. The waves constantly driven by gale winds to crash against the foreboding boulders. Like him, this sea was ever turbulent and deep.

“May I?’ Lucifer gestured at Michael’s armor. 

Silence. He did not let that dissuade him; instead he started undoing the torso pieces. His fingers brushed over Michael's skin ever so lightly. Michael grudgingly shifted to allow him to remove the armor. Lucifer laid them gently on the ground. His eyes flicked over the blood-soaked tunic molded onto his brother’s body. He untied it also, carefully peeling it off his skin, as Michael steeled himself against the sharpness of the sea air against his bare skin. Lucifer inspected his brother's body and sighed deeply. The dark, deep wound that ran the length of his torso had stopped bleeding but still remained raw and open, as well as several smaller wounds scattered throughout his arms and face. There were bruises in his back, some yellow and some still an angry bluish purple. 

He turned his head. "Gabriel is concerned. And apparently our sisters too." A smile curved on Lucifer’s lips. “I have reassured them that all is well.” Michael gave him another one of his dark looks.

"What will you do? Spend eternity up here?

"What can I do? I angered him."

Lucifer replied with an equally thoughtful look. Uriel once remarked how tedious it was to be in the same room with both of them. Always looking as if they were scheming against something, someone, somewhere. 

"Father's plans, Father's design. Consider these bodies.They hold us. Keep us from hubris. Limit us. Our bodies and our souls are always connected. One could not exist without the other,” Lucifer said almost wistfully as his fingers slowly travelled up Michael’s upper wing, along his powerful but now damaged tendons. Michael’s breath caught at the touch, how its warmth spread. He quelled that feeling of pleasure and grasped Lucifer's wrist twisting it hard. Lucifer's arm dissolved into mist but Michael did not let go as his eyes bore into his brother's. 

"Stop. Always with your tricks."

His brother's arm became corporeal again under his grip. "Well, well. You seem immune to my... tricks."

"You anger him too, brother.” Michael let go of Lucifer's hand.

"It is fortunate then that he has Gabriel,” Lucifer said with impertinence. Not breaking his gaze, he placed a hand again on Michael’s wing, as he ignored his warning.

“ I… “ Lucifer's words did not register, Michael felt where Lucifer touched him, warmth, blood rushing underneath the skin in minute but strong pulses. This time he could not help but luxuriate in it, try as he might to fight it as Lucifer glided multiple soothing touches across his entire being. Usually ruled by certainty and logic, for the first time Michael was uncertain. He did not like it. What he had pushed down deep within boiled over; he drew away from his brother, retracting his now healed wings and pushing himself to stand. 

"I apologize my touch can be intense," he said as he sensed his brother's reaction.

"You should have not done that. This, I deserved this!" he snarled at him. 

With the rush of blood emotions flooded and his mind clouded, unsettled by everything. As his Father’s Wrath he relished the slaughter of multitudes. Yet how could the only thing he had known to be right be so wrong. For Him he killed, killed so many.

The refuge that he sought on this cliff by the stormy sea was shattered. He opened his wings and took off in vertical flight, he flew faster and higher until he reached the cloud ceiling where the air had grown thin. Lucifer materialized in front of him. _Brother. Stop!_ But Michael did not heed Lucifer’s words, continuing to push his newly healed wings and body farther up into the clouds.

“You leave me no choice.” Lucifer grasped Michael and held his body firmly against him to break his momentum. They tumbled in the air, their usual grace lost. Each pair of wings fought for dominance against the other as they swirled and spiraled down. Massive black wings struggled against equally massive white ones.

With a grunt Lucifer pushed his palm hard against Michael’s bare chest. It was more intense than his healing touch. His body shook but Lucifer held him secure, finally a calm came over him his eyes focused as if released from torment. He remained still for a time save for the the soft whispers of his hovering wings. Lucifer hovered close to him in the same manner .

He kept a hand on Michael’s chest as he spoke. “Michael, I was created after Father separated light from darkness. For an age I was alone. Then one day you were there, a twin to our brother Gabriel. Then Uriel and her twin Raphael. Meanwhile I was still simply Lucifer. Yet, I knew I was not alone anymore. I know what weighs heavily in your soul, but you should not carry this burden alone.”The older Archangel spoke carefully each word a prayer. 

“You say that even after all I have done in the name of obeying our Father,” the words came out edged with doubt.

“That is what I believe.” Lucifer's deep voice caressed the space between them. He made a slight movement of his shoulders, the pearlescent filaments of the Son of Dawn’s snow white wings caught the pale reflecting sun, flashes of color coruscated over his gleaming bronze skin. Michael could understand why the humans, when they first beheld Lucifer, cowered and fell to their knees. He could also understand why they were compelled to worship him. It was the only way they could comprehend such a being; wise, magnificent in his brilliance yet fearsome. He was both the eye of the storm and the calm the morning after. 

He closed a palm over the hand in his chest, and exhaled deeply, “You are the Star of The Morning. You will never be simple." Never has Michael uttered his name in that way in their language. It made Lucifer’s spirit sing, a kindling to his being. The distance between them disappeared and he touched his lips to Michael’s, who parted his lips ever so slightly. To Lucifer it seemed as if he were playing out a strategy in his mind, or perhaps testing the feel of a new sword. 

Lucifer's teeth ghosted over Michael’s full lower lip: he had only thought of them for the last half millennia or so, after all. Ahh, and yes, they were everything good and more. Soft as petals yet strong as the hardest gem. His tongue teased the other to be let in. Michael responded. They kissed with open mouths. The heat burned through their whole beings. Deep moans vibrate against each other. Michael buried a hand against black, silken hair, and Lucifer decided it could just stay there forever. On impulse their wings reached for the other, pushing, pulsing against one another. The white of clouds against the blackness of night. 

They did not mind the rush of the air around them as they plummeted. 

Michael released Lucifer’s lips and started trailing his nose along his neck, settling at the soft spot beneath his strong jawline. “We are falling,” he murmured against his pulse point, the deep reverberations of his voice threatening to undo him like no other.

Lucifer took time to turn his head and suck Michael’s lower lip. In between the kisses, he paused ever so slightly. 

“Fly us.” Lucifer retracted his wings into his back, letting Michael take over as he continued his mouth’s journey on his neck. 

Michael chuckled deeply as held Lucifer flush against him, his mighty wings beating to regain altitude. "Making me do all the work?" He raised a dark eyebrow. 

"Not necessarily." Lucifer arcs his body gracefully, drawing Michael with him, and somehow Lucifer was floating on his back now with Michael on top of him. The air currents cradled their bodies: gone was the rush of air around them, instead gentle winds teased. Michael met Lucifer's eyes as they gleamed with mirth. 

"Father gave you dominion over the air as well, more than us," he said in a dry tone. Michael started to raise his shoulders to shrug off his wings.

"No." 

Michael stopped and gave him a questioning look. "Leave them be. Please." Lucifer asked.

Lucifer's tone sent a shudder through Michael's being. He raised himself astride Lucifer's hips and arched his body with his face upturned towards the setting sun, his arms trailing along his sides. His spirit lifted as his body kissed the clouds. It was a different freedom, and it filled him with rapturous joy. 

The Star of the Morning drank in the glorious sight of the Prince of Heaven over him. The only other creature who could claim perfection but never would. The setting sun cast brilliant orange and reds against his obsidian wings. They were black fire and Lucifer knew he could immolate himself within them.

They look into each other's eyes and for a brief moment into each other's souls as well. Each knowing what they were to each other yet never forgetting who they were in the vastness of the universe. 

“I will never let you fall." Lucifer's words as certain as the sunrise. 

"And I you." Michael said as he sat bare chested above him, his gaze searing. With determined focus he undid the laces on Lucifer's loose tunic, uncovering him. Palms and fingertips traced Lucifer’s collarbone, gradually making their way across the hard planes of his chest.

"Power and beauty spread before me. I have always wondered how you would feel.” His gaze was intense, his touch a tentative exploration, yet firm. His hands came together in the hard flesh in the midst of his groin. The sensation of clothing and the pressure of Michael's hands against him made Lucifer groan. With a strength that could crush solid rock he grasped Michael's wrist and moved them towards his throbbing cock. 

Michael paused, unaffected by the crushing grip. Lucifer gasped. "Immortal as I am with the power of creation, you will end me if you continue to just sit there." 

Despite the threat, Michael did nothing for eternal seconds. If it weren’t for the growing erection he felt from him, Lucifer would have wondered. Michael exhaled softly and with feral grace stretched over him; his hot tongue lapped a nipple then sucked it hard. Hot breaths, cool air. Sweet agony for sensitive beings. Michael's hand curled at Lucifer’s nape, his fingernails digging into the skin between his wings. His other hand was now underneath Lucifer’s tunic stroking him. In the name of all things holy and unholy, his body is aflame. Lucifer bucked but Michael did not let go, unmindful that perhaps his brother had lost his concentration and there was a definite possibility they might crash into an icy sea. Instead he pushes against Lucifer and his strokes became unrelenting. Lucifer moaned and whimpered as Michael grazed his teeth against his nipples. Michael's intense attention was as fervent as he was in battle. 

Lucifer felt his brother's hardness against his thigh. He fought to regain some sort of upper hand -- he was Lucifer after all, although to be undone by Michael was not necessarily a bad thing. Michael's majestic wings vibrated around them in cadence to his aroused state, the wind intensifying each and every sensation.

"Michael...Michael..." His deep voice carried over the thin air. 

Michael raises his head; an eyebrow arched, lips flushed, eyes lit with green fire.

"Come here." He commands, his voice low and husky.

His smirk deepening, Michael drew himself up to Lucifer's face. Their mouths meet and they devour each other all open mouths and tongues. 

Lucifer, his hand wet with precome took both of their cocks in one hand and squeezed them together. Michael rut himself against Lucifer and they moved against each other, skin to skin. Their tunics barely clung on their bodies. Michael pressed and slid, relishing in the feel of Lucifer' s hard body beneath him. The air around him was significantly cooler now that the sun had set, but they had their own climate and it was all heat, need, want and release. For a moment Michael was not his Father's Warrior, for a moment Lucifer is not his Father's Firstborn, for a measure of time they allowed each other to just feel as all flesh and blood beings did.

They were the brightest objects in the sky, burning now with the hottest fire that made the Earth. Relentless in their coupling; moving, pressing, rocking against each other as only two angelic bodies could. Michael came with a low growl against Lucifer's neck, the release driving him to suck and bite hard enough to break skin and draw blood. Lucifer shuddered with Michael's release. He raised his hips and hooked a leg against Michael's backside. Michael took him in hand as he spilled. They exhaled against each other as they plummeted in a downward spiral, control lost as they laughed against the rush of the wind. 

Michael's wings curled in against them. Lucifer's white wings unfurled powerfully, their whiteness a soft, shimmering blue against the moon, and met Michael's. They arched across the stars holding each other, wing to wing, breathing together. In a slow descent controlled by Lucifer's will they glided back onto the cliff's edge. The same gray cliff with the incongruous patch of green grass. 

They let go of each other. A gulf of hesitation and uncertainty opened between them as they stood still in the moonlight. Lucifer found his arms strangely empty even as his skin was still warm and wet from the seed they spilled. He sat quietly on the ground and tugged Michael down by his fingers. Sighing softly Michael tucked his wings away and lowered himself next to his brother, once again studying the crashing waves below them. Lucifer laid down, cradling his head with his white wings still spread behind him. Michael took a feather in between his fingers and rubbed his thumb delicately over the strong yet supple filaments. The minute motions sent tingles down Lucifer’s spine.

Gracefully, in silent accord, Michael came down and lays next to Lucifer. They faced each other, quiet, with only the sound of the seabirds and the crashing waves. A waning gibbous moon settled on the horizon. A black wing reached for the other, a white did the same. They curled and intertwined and became one. 

.

 

III.

 

Half a millennia had passed, and descendants of the survivors of what humans now called The Flood, settled east in a land between the great rivers of Tigris and Euphrates. It was called Shinar. Once again Lucifer shared knowledge with them. As the populace grew they used that knowledge to build a city. They labored as ants tirelessly as they fashioned bricks and mortar for their dwellings, walls and temples. In the middle of the city they assembled more bricks and hewn stone and began to build a tower.

High above a mountain that loomed over this city state Lucifer had built an aerie. Constructed of granite and white stone an imposing structure impossibly perched over a cliffside. But although for all intents and purposes it existed, it remained beyond human perception. 

Inside, Lucifer leaned against one of the stone pillars swirling a goblet of red wine. He was very pleased that the vineyards were thriving. His brother Gabriel however paced, his displeasure evident for all this human progress and its attendant arrogance did not augur well. "You are truly risking his anger, and once again the destruction of the human race."

" Dear, you must have some of this wine, it is quite heavenly." Gabriel just snorted in reply. "Oh well, more for me then. As much I find your concern extremely moving. I am not some errant child. I do as I see fit. Father, must see that I am just giving them guidance to steer them in the right direction."

Gabriel stopped abruptly. "Steering them in the right direction? Do you not know _our_ Father?" 

"Must we always live in fear of Father with all that we can do." His tone turned serious. 

"Oh, brother. You want them to worship you. You hide behind the guise of aiding them but this is all your pride.”

Lucifer remained unperturbed by his brother’s accusation, ”You see, brother unlike you, I like to occupy my time in more creative pursuits. I refuse to spend my time hand-wringing about what will please or displease Father.”

“The tyranny of destiny.” Lucifer continued under his breath. 

“That is blasphemy! How dare you!” Gabriel retorted in disgust.

The younger Archangel exhaled loudly his frustration threatening to overwhelm. He crossed the distance between them and stood directly in front of him. "If you continue this path, Father will exact a grave punishment for all, you know this."

"Gabriel, do not worry the blame is entirely mine. Father will not dare harm a hair on your pretty little head." He quaffed another goblet of wine. Gabriel's mother henning was making him thirsty. 

Gabriel looked at him steadily, he placed a hand on his brother's chest tenderly. His voice was soft as he spoke, almost pleading. "You have power and strength far more than any of us. Do not mock me I only wish to keep our family whole.” He turned towards the overhanging cliff where Michael had just landed. Michael remained where he was watching them inexorable as ever. 

”I believe it would be useless to even think that _you_ can talk some sense into him," he said as he joined his brother where he stood. He unfurled his wings brushing against his twin in silent greeting. 

Michael’s gaze fixed on Lucifer, heavy with everything unspoken.”You would have far more success stopping the flow of the Tigris river." 

 

IV.

 

Lucifer remained in Shinar, observing the humans unseen. The city flourished in number. Their fields bountiful. Trade and commerce prospered. Remarkably they have also expanded on the Tower and used their knowledge to build higher. Single minded in their purpose the people added level upon level, relentless to reach the heavens. He was proud, like a Father who sees his children succeed. He saw pride in their work. But with their pride he knew they would incur Father's anger. Lucifer believed that if it will come to that, he could once again plead for them. 

_"Lucifer, we need you !"_

A cry from Gabriel interrupted his thoughts. He felt the distress in Gabriel's summons, his entire being chilled. 

He found Gabriel standing at the edge of the crater of Damavand. Damavand the great volcanic mountain of the land of Elam, neighbor to the city state of Shinar. The crater revealed pools of black and red molten earth swirling within, the heat so intense it could incinerate any living creature within its vicinity.

"What is it brother?"

Gabriel looked at him with unmistakable sorrow in his eyes. "Father wants to destroy them again, the Tower was the last straw!"

“No.” His heart clutched deep within his chest. “Where is Michael?"

"He will come. Our sisters have persuaded him to join us before he begins this carnage." 

The air stirred again with the arrival of wings. Uriel and Raphael came down gracefully alighting across them.

“Sisters.”

Uriel nodded. Raphael, who has always been the more reticent one also nodded but kept her face hidden within her cloak.

A foreboding came upon him. A portent. Uriel eyed him steadily as Gabriel stepped farther.

Lucifer’s white wings flared in response to the threat.”You are here to kill me. You deceitful—“

Raphael opened her cloak and held out a hand. Her blue eyes lost color, her skin turned very pale as she lifted off the ground without her wings. Lucifer felt a force suddenly overwhelm him. He willed himself away but he was unable to move. A force was crushing him; breathing became harder and harder. In a desperate attempt to be free, he moved his wings to lift himself off the ground, but they just flailed helplessly behind him. He understood now. Father was using Raphael as a vessel to destroy him.

He was enraged. He fell on his knees as his strength began to fail him. “You! You will let him do this to me,” he said as his breaths were being torn out from him.

“Brother. Father warned you.” Gabriel said sorrowfully, as he stood over him with his sword on his hand.

“Uriel. Raphael…. Uriel, you love them too. Do not let him do this.”

“Yes, we do. But Lucifer you are our oldest! In your arrogance you disobeyed Father. You gave humanity these gifts, and in doing so you have chosen them over us. It seems you have forgotten brother, we are your family…” Uriel spoke her voice did not hide how her heart was breaking.

A haze around him began to envelop his senses and for the first time in his long existence, Lucifer felt fear. 

 

V.

 

Michael had emerged deep from within the bowels of the earth, a layer of blood covered his armor for once again he had slaughtered in his Father's name. Angels have mated with humans breeding creatures that were neither angels nor humans: abominations. Monsters that fed on human flesh that knew only the instinct to survive. They hid below the earth away from human eyes on borrowed time. Father had now tasked Michael to find and destroy them and he did.

He had just finished this grisly task when he perceived Gabriel's distress through their bond. In haste, he leaped, his broad wings cleared the ground in the first downward sweep. He found all of his siblings by the volcano' s fire. Raphael was clearly insensate as Uriel held her in her arms. She looked up her face wet with tears. Gabriel was on the ground kneeling and clutching a heavily bleeding wound on his arm. Lucifer stood over him, his face reflecting the yellowish red from the volcanic fire, he was also wounded and bloody. 

Lucifer looked up and yelled to the heavens. “You think you could kill me. I have grown in power with the worship of these people. “

“Michael, were you part of this?” He snarled at his brother.

“No."Michael answered with a warrior's calm. 

As they spoke the ground beneath them began to shake. The Archangels felt the Earth breaking apart from where they stood.

“This is what your hubris has brought you!” Gabriel spoke over the din of trembling earth. He turned towards Michael in desperation and anger, “Father, will destroy everything with fire from this mountain, if we do not end him."

"You are lying!" Lucifer took a deep breath, still weak from the attack. "This is part of your deceit! You! Have always been jealous!" 

"Believe what you want! This is all your fault!" 

"You are a fool!" Lucifer swung his sword to strike down Gabriel. Before he could land the deadly blow, another sword blocked him. 

"Enough!" Michael stood between them, resolute. His empyrean sword glinted dangerously. 

"Michael you must end this " Gabriel pleaded from behind him. His voice barely a hoarse whisper as his injuries weakened him. "There is no time!"

"Uriel!"

"Brother, I cannot wake Sister. You need to fix this now!” Uriel said quietly yet with unmistakable steel in her voice as she cradled her twin. 

Michael's very soul was being ripped apart by what was transpiring before him. 

Michael grasped Lucifer by his armor. He shot up into the sky. They struggled fiercely in midair in a whirl of black and white. Empyrean swords clashed swift and strong against each other. They tumbled and crashed on the other side of volcano plowing through the black earth. Michael recovered first and stood ready with his dual swords. "You were going to kill him! Everyone!"

Lucifer struggled to get up on his hands and knees. He coughed heavily expectorating blood. "They wanted to kill me first." He scoffed despite himself as he tried to regain his breath.

With the backdrop of dark sky. The mountain shook once more spewing, intermittent bright red and orange fire. The fissures on the ground opened wider as lava travelled down the mountain. They both looked up.

"He is right though, our dear brother," he said wearily. "Our siblings failed in their task, now everyone must pay. There is only one solution."

Michael looked at him aghast. And started walking away.

Lucifer flung himself at him, holding him by his knees.

"No!"

Lucifer clutched the hem of his armor and dragged him down, Michael's knees fell heavily on the ground, "Look at me, look at me..." Lucifer cupped his face in his hands tenderly, his voice quivered. "Out of everyone, I hold you closest to my heart. But it is... Father's will. I have made my choice Michael I would rather die by your hands." 

Michael closed his hands over Lucifer's."I have killed enough!' His chest felt he had just been bludgeoned, his breaths came fast and shallow as he shook his head violently. " No! Not you! You cannot ask this of me!" 

" Shhh..shhh," Lucifer gently placed his lips on Michael. They kissed slowly then with fervency driven by despair and hopelessness. For a single moment they held on to an illusion that time could stop. When they released each other, there was barely a breath in between them, Lucifer's lips grazed Michael’s as he spoke. " If you do not end me, he will make you pay, he will destroy the world once again. I cannot bear that!"

They clung against each other, leaning their foreheads against the other, "I will take Father's punishment." Michael gritted out. 

"NO, NO! This is my end. They will need you! Our brother, our sisters, the rest of them. I need you to continue!" 

"But surely you could do something? Lucifer, we could go somewhere!" There was a desperation in Michael's voice, something Lucifer never wanted to hear from his Warrior brother. 

"No, he made sure that I lost my gifts." He smiled a thin grim smile."This is the only way. Please do it now, brother, for me, for all of us." 

Michael squeezed his eyes, tears falling on his blood soaked sandals. Several scenarios ran through his mind but he knew in the end Lucifer was right. This time Father's anger was absolute.

He stood behind Lucifer as he bent his head. Michael plunged his sword deep between Lucifer's shoulders. Between his wings the seat of their power. An agonized cry escaped from Lucifer as his spirit was torn out from him. His body started to slump forward. Michael knelt next to him quickly and held him before he could fall to the ground. He sobbed wretchedly as he held him, his armor now wet with his brother's blood also. Lucifer's spirit hovered by Michael's face, cool against the heat of his tears, and faded away with a susurration in its wake. 

The ground trembled once more before it stopped. Michael felt bone weary and hollow. The mountain had settled and there was only the slight rumble of the seething earth underneath them. Gently he cradled Lucifer's body, holding him close to his chest. He smoothed black hair away from his face. Lucifer in repose was even more beautiful. He could hold him like this forever. 

_Consider these bodies.They hold us. Keep us from hubris. Limit us. Our bodies and our souls are always connected._ Michael recalled what he had said a long time ago in a cliff by the sea. 

He gathered him into his arms, his wings unfurling behind him as he lifted slowly into the sky, each moment he held his brother precious. He was over the mouth of the volcano now. No doubt that was his siblings plan: fire to claim Lucifer's body. True death for their kind. 

He breathed deeply. He watched the swirling anger of black and red below him. Perhaps there was no place anymore for him in this world either, with the light of the most brilliant star extinguished. When each and every sunrise would be a reminder. Perhaps ...

"I am sorry brother."

_Michael.....Please._

******************************************

Lucifer's sacrifice was not for naught. Father did not end the human race. Instead he confused them. He made them speak in different tongues. They scattered in numbers towards the different corners of the world.

Meanwhile, on the the highest point of the tallest sea cliff in the north, Gabriel found him. 

"Will you ever forgive me?" 

"I think the real question is-- Will we ever forgive ourselves?" 

Streams of sunlight shone through the grudgingly parting clouds. Brilliant oranges against the emerging pale blue sky.

They both stood still and watched their Father's creation unfold. Michael stepped to the edge of the rocky promontory and fell, he almost touched the sharp boulders that border the shoreline, at the last moment he opened his wings and soared to meet the dawn.

Beneath the dark waves, a soft glow of white light gleamed briefly then disappeared.

AUTHOR'S NOTES;

All the places mentioned exists or have existed. They are all in the same general area of the Tigris and Euphrates river, of course I've taken them accordingly to suite the purposes of this fic.  
Seriously gutted that we don't get to see Vaun's take on Lucifer.  
Kudos or comments are appreciated. Thanks!


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